When you don’t have a balance in hand but need household items as a reference for a gram, what can you pick that will weigh a gram ?

I’ve searched my home and checked using an electronic precision scale in order to select what items that weigh 1 gram.

See also the Gram to oz converter at the bottom of this article.

There is my selection:

A Dollar note, a paper clip, 2 Paris metro tickets, an England train ticket, the core of a pen Bic Cristal, a small ink cartridge.

• Any dollar note. According to the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a dollar bill weighs exactly one gram. This is the same for any dollar note. I’ve checked by myself and this is true.
• A paper clip
• a small ink cartridge for fountain pen (picture: pelican 4000)
• Two paris metro tickets. One of those tickets only weigh half a gram. If one day you visit this city, you may end up with some in your pocket.
• a 2″ birthday candle. Preferably not used.
• A UK train tickets. That is also true for a tube ticket, or Underground, the metro of London. If you are one of the 6 million tourists that visit this city every year, you will bring some of those in your souvenirs.
• The core of a Bic Cristal ballpoint pen

There are plenty of other items that are notoriously weighing a gram but I haven’t checked by myself:

a coin of one Yen of Japan, one-fifth of a sheet of paper, a pinch of salt, a raisin, a stick of gum, 1 milliliter of water, or 1/3 or teaspoon of water.

What is a gram?

The word “gram” comes from Latin “gramma”, meaning ‘small weight’.

It is abbreviated g, not to be confused with a “grain” that is a unit of measure of a grain of cereal (wheat or barley) but also for gold nuggets and abbreviated gr.

The gram is the smallest unit of weight in the Metric System. It is equivalent of the weight of a cubic centimeter of pure water at 4 degrees Celsius, or 1 milliliter (1/1000 litre) of water.

Smaller units are expressed in fractions of grams, e.g. a milligram (mg) is a thousandth of gram, and higher units are multiple, like a Kilogram (or a Kilo, abbrev. Kg) is a thousand grams.

A metric ton is a thousands of Kilograms, which means it weighs a million grams.

The gram is commonly used in pharmaceuticals, for the weighing of molecules in medicines and tablets (eg Penicilin 500mg) and in nutrition labels for food products. You could read this article to know more about the pros and cons of various types of milligram scales.
Conversion of a gram

1 gram is equivalent of 0.0353 dry ounces, 0.002 pound.

1 stone = 14 Pounds (lb) = 224 ounces (oz) = 6,350.3 g

1 lb = 16 oz = 453.6 g

1 oz = 28.35 g

1 troy ounce, the units used for precious metals (Gold, Silver, Palladium and Platinum) = 31.1035 g

For more information about the Gram and the metric system, feel free to see the Wikipedia page about those topics.

If you want to convert any weight in gram, use this converter:

or try this online Grams to Ounce Converter.